Friday, May 31, 2013

"My Hollow Wooden Fish has been hanging dutifully on my living room wall
and usually I get a sense of joy walking past her until recently.

The last couple of months instead of pride I started feeling guilty every time I glanced her way because I realised that it had almost been a year since I last took the old girl out for a dance. I guess I was reluctant to take her off the wall in case I damaged her.

Also I started doubting whether I had made a piece of art that looked like a surfboard rather than the other way around. What if I didn't get that special feeling that I got when I first rode my little wooden board and I had imagined the stoke that it performed just like a surfboard. Hmmm...maybe better leave it on the wall in case reality disappointed.

But I couldn't shake the feeling that she was whispering "surfboards must be ridden". So finally today I bit the bullet and decided to take her for a dance at a local reef. The tide was shallow and the waves small "let's hope I don't regret this...

I'll let the pictures tell the story because I can't put in words the special feeling that you get from riding something you have made with your own two hands."

David I couldn't agree with you more. And you never want to loose that feeling of connection with the board you built. Keep building and keep surfing.

Monday, May 27, 2013

This is the 10ft 5" x 27" wide x 2" "Hotkiuri" by Kiwi board builder Roy Stuart. It weighs in at 27 pounds.

He uses his own building method that is quite unique and different to most peoples approach to building a wooden board. It also leads to a quite different outcome in terms of the outline and foil of his boards. Also Roy's approach to fins very unique and something of an art form in itself.

This particular board has gold leaf embellishments.

Paulownia , epoxy resin , stainless steel fittings and a touch of gold leaf make for a great looking board. For more info - http://www.roystuart.biz

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Great news, after consultation with Surfing Australia, Longboard Club
members, and our Longboard delegate Trevor Brady, we will be announcing
this week the addition of a Logging division into this year's QLD
Longboard Titles.

If you have already entered the event on the
Sunshine Coast on June 1 & 2, you can just go online and enter in
multiple divisions if you wish to also contest the QLD Log Title for
2013.

As many of you are aware, the Log division has been
recently added to the Australian Longboard Titles, and as such, we have
developed a pathway for those who would like to compete at the Aussie
titles, as well as just add an extra division to add to the fun of the
Longboard Festival.

Should be a fantastic weekend of surfing, so
please feel free to distribute the attached information on the Logging
specifications and details to any and all of your Club members.

To
enter the QLD Longboard Titles for 2013, just go to
www.surfingqueensland.com.au or contact the office if your members don't
have access to the internet. Office Phone (07) 55 201 165

LOG
CRITERIA FOR INCLUSION IN THE SURFING AUSTRALIA – AUSTRALASIAN RULE BOOK
PREAMBLE The modern Malibu has evolved into a high performance act
that now approaches the philosophy and approach used by the short board
community. In response to this there has been a considerable return by
the longboard community back to the style and methods that were
prevalent in the 1960's – a more stylish approach that involves
smoothness, continuity and flow. The exponents of this retro movement
are called "loggers" and they now have enough critical mass to be
identified as a separate longboard discipline and as such be given
standalone status in the structure of Australian Surfing. Recent Pro
Events held by Curl Curl's "Mal Jam" and Manly's "Snowy McAlister" has
proved to be demonstrable success with the competitive longboard
fraternity. Both events were oversubscribed and there are now dedicated
log competitions along the whole East Coast. This follows a similar
expansionin the United States and South America. Logging is now a
force to be reckoned with and deserves to be recognized in its own
right.

The specifications and criteria below have been developed
and refined with the input and consultation of the leading exponents and
organisers of the log discipline this represents a broad consensus of
opinion. There will undoubtedly be further discussion and refinement but
we believe that this is a strong starting point.

LOG SPECIFICATIONSThis section would have to be added to Section 5 rule 9 of the Rule Book

a.
The board length is minimum 9 feet measured from the nose to the tail
on the deck of the surfboard. The width dimensions are to be a total
minimum 47 inches in aggregate. This is the total of the widest point,
plus the width 12 inches up from the tail and 12 inches back from the
nose

b. The board will have a single central fin that may be
permanently fixed or attached via a fin box. There must be no provision
for any other fin configuration

c. The rails of the surfboard will be 50/50 or 60/40 from nose to tail.

d. The board will have no resin edge from rail to tail.

e. The fin will be at least 8 inches from its mounted base to the highest point

f. The board will weigh a minimum of six kilograms.

g. No leg rope but at tournament director's discretion

JUDGING CRITERIAThis section would have to be added to Section 7, rule 1(a) of the Rule Book

a. Standard logging criteria:"The
surfer must execute traditional manouevre's with continual motion,
style and grace in the most critical sections of the wave. The surfer
must display uninterrupted flow with control of the surfboard with
emphasis on creativity, form with smoothness and the linking of
manouevre's over the entire ride. The degree of commitment to the key
aspects of these criteria will determine the scoring outcome."

I have designed a new board for James Mason from Adelaide in AKU and sent him screen shots to check out. It will be 9ft x 23" x 3 1/4" .Then I designed a custom blank and get it hot wire cut from block VH EPS.

It comes in 2 pieces ready for me to glue in a 5mm Paulownia stringer. The blank is cut to allow for the 5mm thickness of the stringer and the thickness of the rails bands that will be laminated onto the perimeter. The thickness of the blank is over size depth wise so that the guys can position the board file within it easily to cut the final board from.

After the stringer is in I glue up the first Paulownia rail band right around the blank. So that the blank is stiff and ready to go to the AKU machine to be cut.

This way when the board is cut minus the thickness of the deck and bottom skins which in this case will be 6mm deck and 4mm bottom , the machine cuts the stringer and foils the wooden rail band at the same time.

This is the cut board ready to be shipped to James who will vacuum bag the 6mm deck and 4mm bottom skins on before laminating the 20mm of rails in Paulownia as well. Shape the rails and route in the fin box and he is there. He just needs to choose what he wants to finish it with. Lanolin and unglassed , a hot coat or two of epoxy and a light sand or if he wanted a little more weight in the board he could get it glassed with 2 or 4oz cloth and glass. Each will do the job of sealing the board. Each will cost and weigh a little more, Either way you will end up with a great board. For more info on this contact me or visit my blog - surfboardsbygrantnewby.blogspot.com

Wooden Surfboards reinvented

Shaping surfboards is an art and there’s certainly some romanticism
connected to it. You know: Creating something out of nothing, living
close to the sea, hanging out with the surfers and being one, providing
the base for awesome surf: Great surfboards in a variety of shapes, each
made for a certain type of wave.. But the other side of it are usually
toxic materials, toxic liquids, bad air in the workshop, white powder
that comes from sanding the boards into the final shape all over your
skin, slowly diffusing those chemicals into your organism.
Stefan from Kun_tiqi Surfboards
is a shaper, he is a surfer and though born thousands of miles from the
sea, he now lives close to some of the most beautiful beaches in
Cantabria, Spain. Entering his workshop feels different. It mostly
smells like wood – even though he admits: “I repair lots of conventional
surf boards so I have the usual repertoire of chemicals. My workshop
does stink sometimes too, but I hope it gets less as more and more
people surf wood instead.”

His own label – Kun_tiqi Surfboards – wants to provoke a different
thinking. In the old days of surfing surf boards were made of wood. They
were heavy, huge and could never provide the performance of modern
surfboards. Then came a revolutionary time for surfboard shaping and
connected to it a different style of surfing: The aera of boards made
of polyurethane or polystyrene foam covered with layers of fiberglass,
cloth and polyester orepoxy resin, made for more radical turns, shorter
and lighter boards arrived on the stage.
Stefan wants to prove that a step back can mean a step forward too –
just in a different direction. His boards are made of wood, balsa wood
in that case, but constructed in a hollow structure which provides more
stability than foam boards while maintaining the same performance,
weight and feel in the water. The only difference: “Surfers who started
riding my boards were surprised by how much they float in comparison to
regular boards. In terms of maneuverability and speed they are the same
though.”
“We now offer different shapes – ranging from a 9” performance
longboard, over noseriders, evolution boards, retro single fins, fish
boards down to shortboards everything – each made for performance while
lasting longer than conventional boards. Not a single customer managed
to snap a balsa board yet – they are built to last and perform…”
If he’s not in the workshop caring glassing his balsa boards he’s
surfing the area around Santander – often using his bike to get there.
“Cantabria is a beautiful area. It’s still relatively free from crowds,
people are relaxed here. And slowly people start to be more conscious
about their environment too – they start to realize that if it stays
that way we have a little paradise here at the north coast of Spain.”

This is taken from : www.oldyoungsea.com a great site about an upcoming film of traveling and surfing from the South of France through Spain and down into Portugal. This is just one of the many stories told along the way. Check it out, Stefan and his Kun tigi Surfboards have been on this blog many times in the past.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Just some of the Wooden Surfboards that have been made through Tree to Sea Australia Workshops recently. All made with Paulownia and recycled Western Red Cedar stringers and no fibreglass in sight. Which makes them some of the most environmentally friendly boards out there today!.

The guys are turning out some nice boards and have created a great range of shapes and sizes for you to choose from. This is a great way to get the feel of building your first wooden board. From here you can come back and build another one or embark on the journey of getting experimental and designing and building your own. You will come away with a much deeper appreciation of your skills and love of surfing. As I have always said there is no better feeling than surfing on something you have built yourself. A truly great and rewarding experience.

" If anyone is interested in making their very own environmentally friendly Wooden Surfboard at one of our 3 Day Tree to Sea Workshops visit www.treetosea.com.au or call Rob 0409 211 751 or Gary 0423 804 975 to discuss how, vacancies available. 6 new Models, 12 to choose from, including 3 new shortboards."

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Monday, May 6, 2013

If you are interested in owning a handcrafted wooden surfboard but don't want to build it yourself you can get a custom built by Paul. He will build only one ordered board per month this year. So you should get in touch to discuss a design.

"The next three day sessions in Germany will be the weekend 28/29/30 June in Cologne and another date in July or August in Berlin."

The deal is as usual:
price for the workshop is £300+ £40/ft board length.
that includes tuition and all the materials to complete the shape of your choice (internal plywood structure, paulownia/cedar deck and bottom skins, bead and cove rail strips, glues,...) and the tools you need to work. if you have tools (hand planes, saws etc.) bring them with you too!

Friday, May 3, 2013

This great looking simmons is designed and built by Stavros Xan. Here is what he had to say ...
"This is my latest wooden board, I call it mini monster because of the board dimensions and shape, 5'7"x20"x2". For this wooden board I utilized samba wood ( deck, bottom, frame, rails), the weight of the board after shaping is 9 pounds."

2016 Poster

This years Wooden Surfboard Day will be Sunday 7th August

2015 Poster

Poster for 2012

Poster for 2011

Poster for 2010

Poster for 2009

The joy of wood and water...

Wooden surfboards have been around for a long time and it was probably on a simple piece of wood that man first enjoyed surfing waves somewhere in the world. It may have only been a crude piece of driftwood found on the beach that served as a way of catching that first wave, but the joy and connection felt with the sea then is no different from what we feel today.As someone who has crafted a surfboard from wood, taken it out and caught a wave on it, I can tell you that the first time you paddle in and get to your feet, is truly a timeless feeling of joy and achievement. I hope that in assembling this list of talented people will inspire you to have a go at building your dream board and also experience that feeling for yourself.